CBI Wales and Business News Wales are strengthening their partnership as part of a shared commitment to ensure the insights, experience and priorities of businesses across Wales are heard more widely.
The partnership will see the two organisations work more closely across more than 20 sectors and regions, creating new opportunities to capture and amplify the views of the businesses and industry leaders helping to shape the Welsh economy.
Central to the strengthened relationship will be CBI Wales' support for INFORM, the new business intelligence initiative being launched by Business News Wales.
INFORM has been designed to put industry insight at the heart of conversations about the future of the Welsh economy, bringing together senior leaders through a programme of Editorial Boards focused on Wales' major industries, economic opportunities and regions.
Rather than simply reporting on the economy, the initiative will create a structured mechanism for listening to those operating within it.
Insights gathered through the Editorial Boards will enable the production of industry evidence reports which will be shared with relevant decision-makers across local and national government.
Through the partnership, CBI Wales and its members will have opportunities to contribute expertise and perspectives to relevant discussions, while Business News Wales will provide a platform through which those insights can reach a wider business and policymaking audience.
The collaboration will span areas including advanced manufacturing, energy and net zero, technology and AI, skills, infrastructure, defence, housing, transport and logistics, alongside discussions focused on the economic opportunities and challenges facing different regions of Wales.
Russell Greenslade, Director, CBI Wales, said:
“We are proud to partner with Business News Wales on the INFORM platform that supports the CBI's work with government to grow the economy and bring prosperity to every corner of Wales.
“With political change in Cardiff and Westminster, and firms grappling with the high cost of doing business amid the continuing economic impacts caused by conflict in the Middle East, the forum is perfectly timed to provide a new voice in the media for the business community.
“Business News Wales has a reputation as a trustworthy and impartial voice for all sectors of industry. The CBI looks forward to working on this exciting opportunity for firms to raise awareness of the issues holding back investment and growth in areas such as productivity, skills, infrastructure and planning.”
Mark Powney, Managing Director of Business News Wales, said:
“There is an enormous amount of experience and intelligence within Welsh industry, but we need to get much better at capturing it, connecting it and making sure it reaches the people making decisions about the future of our economy.
“The CBI already plays an important role in representing businesses and understanding the issues affecting industry, so strengthening our relationship makes complete sense. By working together across more than 20 sectors and regions, we can amplify the experience of businesses of different sizes and ensure their insight contributes to a much bigger conversation about Wales' economic future.”
The ambition is to build an increasingly valuable body of industry-led evidence, connecting conversations taking place within individual sectors and regions and giving policymakers a clearer picture of what businesses across Wales are experiencing and what they believe needs to happen next.
The first INFORM discussions started on the 18th September, with the programme expanding across Wales and more than 20 industry and regional areas over the coming months.
